Books Tagged With format - short stories

Word Count: Click here to reveal4500 (Click here to hide)

Summary: In love, time is relative, until they run out… Regulations limit time digger Ish and time cop Kabal, born years and worlds apart, to two dates a year, making every date precious. But when Kabal announces his retirement at their tenth anniversary, what should have been a happy occasion might be their last night together. Previously appeared in Storm Moon Press' Sweethearts & Seduction anthology

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Summary: Seven stories of the gap year for the Children of Amargosa between Storming Amargosa and Suicide Run: Tishla must decide if Hanar can accommodate a group of socially inept sentient turtles. JT Austin has a ghost. Eric Yuwono must deal with his former enemies, who are now refugees on Amargosa. Davra Andraste tries to save a group of mean girls in space. Connor Duffy hacks the Boston sewer system. Ellie Nardino ponders her future, which might include terraforming. Mitsuko Yamato confronts squid people

Word Count: Click here to reveal70000 (Click here to hide)

Summary: Ray M. Holler is an interstellar shipping freelancer, expert smuggler, and an occasional thief with a troubled past which means that his life is far from the boring, mundane exploits of your average denizen of the Orion-Sagittarius Union, a political alliance of intelligent species inhabiting the Milky Way galaxy. In fact, more often than not, he finds himself up to his neck in situations that require wit, courage, and a decent amount of luck to maneuver out of in one piece. Throughout his adventures in a universe where a safe, peaceful life is possible but not guaranteed, Ray gets to meet a variety of interesting individuals, make new friends, reunite with old acquaintances, and maybe—just maybe—face his own demons. All Quiet In the Milky Way: Ray M. Holler’s Adventures vol. 1 brings forth five stories, accompanied by an equal amount of side vignettes. This collection will take you on an exciting journey to remote worlds that, in some aspects, may not be all that dissimilar from the one we live in today.

Word Count: Click here to reveal67000 (Click here to hide)

Summary: Androids & Aliens is Scott's third short story collection - eight sci fi and sci-fantasy shorts that run the gamut from cyborgs to (comedic) alien invasions: Rise: The rise in sea levels caused by climate change swallowed Venice beneath the lagoon half a century ago. But what if we could bring it back? Ping: I was a real estate agent by day, and a museum curator in the evening at a sci-fi museum. What I saw one night changed everything. What the Rain Brings: Miriam struggles to make a living in post-climate-change Vancouver. But her friend Catalina has it even worse in the Arizona desert. So Miri hatches a plan. High Seven: Zan dreams of making full reals - immersive live virtual reality skins - but his low score may doom him to a life of cheap coding. Full Real: Dek's given up his life of spying for the city. But one more case awaits him. Will he regret it more if he takes it, or turns it down? Shit City: The Bay Area is being walloped by a hurricane, and seventeen-year-old Jason Vasquez has been relocated to a refugee city in the Nevada Desert. Will it be temporary shelter, or change his life? Firedrake: Kerry has always wondered about his deadly powers. But a mysterious bunch of violet roses starts him on the path to discovery - even if he's not sure he's going to like what he finds. The Last Human Heart: I'm one of the Remainers, the few cyborg humans still living on this busted planet. But if my still-human heart finally gives out, I may not live to find out the truth about who I am. This is the first time all of these stories have all been collected in one place, and the first publication of the Pacific Climate Tryptich - What the Rain Brings, High Seven, and Full Real - in any form.

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Summary: A story born in the hollers of Eastern Kentucky. Elizabeth Robinson. An Elizabeth Robinson has lived in the hills of Eastern Kentucky as long as people have built permanent settlements in the lush, green forests. While the mountains recover from the War of Northern Aggression, the simple folk seek the healings of the Robinson women. Three generations, working the ways from the old country, live in isolation. The youngest Elizabeth Robinson, a healer by happenstance, despises her role in the family. She longs for freedom, the wilderness of her youth, an escape from a dark secret. Alone in the forest, she stumbles upon the ghost of a Yankee soldier, Samuel Henry. Determined to help Samuel pass beyond the veil, Elizabeth brings him back to her mountain home. Turning of the wheel of fortune, prosperity changes to misfortune for the Robinsons, and a menacing figure lingers like a thick fog. Generations, built on lies, force Elizabeth to face a bleak reality and make the ultimate sacrifice.

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Summary: The Fantastical Romances You’ve Been Craving Hugo Finalist Janice L. Newman presents a touching trio of romances in a speculative vein. From the edge of space, to the shadows of the paranormal, to the marvels of the mystic: At First Contact: A germaphobe and an android are assigned a mission to survey a planet together. Will they discover new life or a new love? Ghosted: Leo is searching for the soul that used to haunt his grandmother’s house. Did Will ghost him? A Touch of Magic: What if love could alter the fabric of existence? A fraught romance between two teachers just might be helped along by a touch of magic.

Word Count: Click here to reveal21,400 (Click here to hide)

Summary: When do dreams become reality? Orin sells dandelion latex at a no-name market, barely scraping by. Mette is a princess. Maybe. What Orin does know is that for thirty seconds every night, Mette visits Orin in xir dreams. Orin has long since written the fancy ghost woman off as a recurring nightmare, but when Mette insists upon meeting in real life, Orin's inner world turns out to be more substantive than imaginary. Along with best friend Blathnaid, Orin embarks on a journey to discover the truth behind xir otherworldly connection--determined to free xir mind and finally get a good night's sleep. But it's an ancient, planetary magic that binds Orin to Mette, and Orin's dandelions may be their only chance to survive the separation. If you want a fun, queer romp through a sci-fi planet with magic and dragons (of a sort), download Awry with Dandelions today! Note: this book uses xie/xir pronouns for Orin. Genres: Space Opera / Science Fiction / Romance / LGBT Lesbian Non Binary Market: Adult and New Adult

Word Count: Click here to reveal9000 (Click here to hide)

Summary: Avgonne and Revell, would-be adventurers, hadn’t yet reached their sixteenth years, but both had dreams. Unfortunately, they lived in the village of Crimplebush, where dreams went to die. Neither wanted to die there. They dreamed of dying just about anywhere else. And maybe living a little before then. So when the thief hatched a plan to make their dreams reality, the warrior went along to a narrow lane off Market Street to the home of Knwult, the village’s resident seer. Will what is seen portend gloom or gold?

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Summary: Vampires are not alive, but they have lives and wants and needs and desires. And other cravings. Erased from her vanity, Lady Isabelle, a three-hundred-year-old vampire, longs to see her image and commissions an artist to paint her portrait. She's feared nothing but daylight for centuries, but she trembles at the thought of what she might see. Magnus attends to his Guinevere and her bloody cravings as a cursed event approaches. He takes to the night to find an appropriate snack from the diner but not something on the menu. However, sometimes substitutions have to be made, and they can be found in unlikely places. Lord Matthias St. John rose under the spell Countess Finch, who'd killed his wife. After her demise, he fled to America to start a new life, such as it was, in New York. How did he come to find himself dying from a silver bullet on a farm on the prairie? Plus a bonus story!  

Word Count: Click here to reveal7700 (Click here to hide)

Summary: A lion sleeps in the hearts of brave men. When Prince Theodorin refuses to wed the general's youngest son because he loves another, he is trapped on a cursed island. He spends his days trying to escape, his nights listening to his lover’s soothing voice echoing through the forest. His attempts to escape only lead back to where he started… until an encounter with a lion reveals a crack in the illusion. Theo has to believe, or he may never find his way home. Previously appeared in Wilde City Press' Bedtime Stories anthology

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Summary: Eclectic, imaginative, and unexpected, Community of Magic Pens features forty genre-spanning flash and short stories--including fantasy, humor, science fiction, romance, historical fiction, satire, and mystery--bringing together a rich group of diverse voices from a wide range of backgrounds and intersections. Fountain pens, markers and ink, charcoals, spy pens, a braille writer, a printing press, virtual reality, and a supernatural pizza: whether revealing unspoken truths, fighting injustice, or finding friendship and love, our pens have power. Join us as a recent graduate of superhero school struggles to understand her gift, a disabled android interviews for a job, a queen’s conscripted artist must pull reality from illustrations on parchment, and a grandmother’s secret room is…better kept a secret. Tales of struggle and triumph, compassion and hope: Community of Magic Pens is a celebration of our shared story.

Word Count: Click here to reveal80000 (Click here to hide)

Summary: The pandemic came and the world changed. Lives have changed; work has changed. The boundaries between reality and fantasy have become as blurred as those between life and work. Corporate Catharsis: The Work From Home Edition explores the impact of the COVID pandemic on everyone's personal and professional lives through speculative fiction. Featuring stories by Alicia Adams, Antaeus, Pauline Barmby, Steven D. Brewer, Dominick Cancilla, Adrienne Canino, Graham J. Darling, Derek Des Anges, Manny Frishberg, Alex Grehy, Jon Hansen, Alexa Kellow, Jack Nash, Helen Obermeier, Frank Sawielijew, William Shaw, Steve Soult, N.L. Sweeney, Kimberley Wall, and Richard Zaric.

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Summary: Humans are, so far as we know, the only creatures on this planet who mark the passage of time. As such, we are keenly aware from an early age that time is tick, tick, ticking away. In the end, for all of us, is Death. We fear it. We are intoxicated by it. We run from it and somehow find ourselves wrapped in its dark-robed arms. A small village suffering through a terrifying plague seek a solution from a prophet. A “pig” crawls on his hands and knees through the dark labyrinth of a BDSM dungeon in search of the only thing that can satiate his hunger. Two young men find themselves chased through the woods by a real-life urban legend. A lonely young man finds a boon companion in Death. These stories and more fill Darkest Death, a collection of short horror fiction by W. Dale Jordan, author of The Stop.

Word Count: Click here to reveal51,180 (Click here to hide)

Summary: Elvis impersonators, art-fueled lust, forbidden longings, hot women, unexpected love, rekindled flames, magic, all these and more populate the pages of DESIRE. Meet thieves and goddesses, activists and actors, ex-spies and tourists in this spicy collection of 11 tales of sensual lesbian erotica by author Emily L. Byrne. Table of Contents: Viva Las Vegas The Further Adventures of Miss Scarlet Summer Stock Spoonbridge and Cherry An Evening in Estelí A Room with a View Treehugger Diplomacy The Old Spies Club Heart’s Thief The Goddess Within

Word Count: Click here to reveal132,000 (Click here to hide)

Summary: Rules were made to be broken. From terraformed outposts to magical realms, journey to worlds where deadly plants, rampant biodiversity, or failed colonies have created irresistible opportunities for those brave enough to seize them. New worlds, found family, mystical secrets, and deadly science weave together in this lesbian-centric anthology focusing on a very different kind of first time—a first encounter with a world, or being, entirely unlike our own. If you like diverse stories with lesbian heroines practicing science, magic, and seduction, buy Distant Gardens today!

Word Count: Click here to reveal7300 (Click here to hide)

Summary: Two brothers find misery in California's Gold Rush until a Chinese doctor promises them riches. They should have asked, at what price? Set in the Trinity Mountains, this is the first book - a single story - in a series of short reads in science fiction and fantasy.

Word Count: Click here to reveal77200 (Click here to hide)

Summary: Earth on the Cusp of the Twenty-Second Century Just think how the world has changed in the last seventy-six years. In 1948, scientists ran the first computer program, and "the Ultimate Car of the Future," the futuristic, three wheeled Davis Divan, debuted. Since then, a succession of inventions—the personal computer, the internet, the World Wide Web, smart phones and social media—have transformed every aspect of our lives. How might the next seventy-six years change us, in ways we can barely even begin to imagine, as culture, climate change, politics and technology continue to reshape the world? Earth in 2100 will be as unrecognizable to us as today would be to someone from 1948. Eighteen writers tackled this challenge, creating an amazing array of sci-fi possibilities. From emotional AI's to photosynthetic children, from virtual worlds to a post-urban society, our writers serve up compelling slices of life from an Earth that's just around the corner. So dive in and and take a wild ride into these amazing visions of our collective future.

Word Count: Click here to reveal97000 (Click here to hide)

Summary: The seas spell freedom. Pirates and kraken, boats and submarines, deadly sirens, mermaids, and the women who face them all. These are our heroes. High seas adventure, fantasy, and magic weave together in this sapphic anthology focusing on the joy of the unbounded oceans. If you like diverse stories with lesbian and sapphic heroines exploring oceans, battling sea monsters, and seducing pirates, buy Farther Reefs today! With stories by: Sarah Day and Tim Pratt, Kim Pritekel, Kyoko M. Sara Codair, William C. Tracy, N.L. Bates, Robin C.M. Duncan, Vanessa Ricci-Thode, Margaret Adelle, and J.S. Fields Genres: Science Fiction / Fantasy / Adventure / Lesbian / LGBT and Non Binary Market: Adult

Word Count: Click here to reveal13200 (Click here to hide)

Summary: In Space, No One Can Hear You Sing … Grayson Eck's life is a drag, in all the best possible ways. He's perfectly happy working in the belt alone as a wildcatter, prospecting asteroids by … well, not exactly by day. At night, he transforms into the Inner System's most famous Valeriana Storm — a secret identity that even his closest friends and family don't know about. When someone tries to steal one of Greyson's mining scores, he has half a mind to just toss the guy off his rock and into open space. But that all changes when he discovers the stranger's identity — and that he knows Greyson's secret. Now he's being chased by a pirate, and has to decide what to do with the apparent thief while also putting on his show. What's a space drag queen to do?

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Summary: “I have great responsibilities, but my path ahead is as foggy and blurred as the path behind me.” With forester Taruif freed, Kelnaht has claimed him openly at Solstice before tribe and Ma’terra as his partner, but with their third, Ianys, bound by an old promise, their triad is still incomplete. Sneaking around puts the most strain on Ianys. He and Kelnaht must keep their relationship a secret or he will lose his daughter, Atèn. When several children fall ill with more than a summer bug, truth seeker Kelnaht is assigned once more to investigate. What he finds is deadly and threatens the life of every underage child in the tribe, including Atèn. Then a wounded traveller is found in the forest, left to die after a vicious attack. With Taruif and his apprentice on the hunt for a cure, Kelnaht focusses on the attacks, but the clues are few and more children are infected. Nothing seems to connect until both the traveller and Atèn dream of the same grey-haired elf. Driven by fear for his daughter, Ianys pulls away from his lovers. Kelnaht can only pray Ma’terra will guide him to a solution that brings them all together and keeps Atèn safe from harm. This is the single ebook release of the third Act of A Triad in Three Acts